Sven Sprangler has arguably been St Johnstone’s best and most consistent player since Simo Valakari took over from Craig Levein.
His importance to the Perth cause has rocketed from being an unused substitute to the first name on the team sheet.
Not only has Sprangler been a highly effective barrier in front of the Saints backline, he has also showcased the ball-playing ability a Valakari team needs to pass its way up the pitch rather than adopting a more direct approach.
The 29-year-old picked up his sixth yellow card of the Premiership campaign against Aberdeen at the weekend, however.
And, as a consequence, he will serve a one-game suspension when St Mirren visit McDiarmid Park this weekend.
Courier Sport assesses the options open to Valakari to replace Sprangler for the clash with the Buddies.
Lewis Neilson
Before Aberdeen last Saturday, the on-loan Hearts man hadn’t started a game for Saints since the last time they faced St Mirren, which was at the end of October.
On both occasions, he played as a defender.
Neilson has been the Mr Versatile all squads need, having operated in every position in the back four and in central midfield.
Ironically, the most minutes he has played as midfielder under Valakari were when he replaced Sprangler at half-time in the defeat to Motherwell last month.
Neilson helped turn the game in Saints’ favour that day, with a 45-minute display that will no doubt have stuck in his manager’s mind.
He isn’t the most creative option available to Valakari but he’s probably the lowest risk one, with the keenest sense of danger.
The complication could be, however, that Neilson is needed at right-back, which was the case at Pittodrie.
If Andre Raymond is still out, it’s likely Drey Wright will continue to cover for him on the left.
Should the Trinidad and Tobago international return, that would free-up Wright to return to the side of the pitch he has made a career on and Neilson for a move further forward into the Sprangler slot.
Aaron Essel
The Ghana under-23 international is every bit as robust and combative as Neilson.
He’s also a more natural central midfielder (that’s his best position, according to Valakari) even though he’s another you can put into the ‘versatile’ bracket.
The 19-year-old has a high ceiling for development and, early in the season, showed enough to suggest Levein recruited a real asset for the club on a long-term contract.
Essel produced a mature performance in the middle of the park, which belied his years, when Saints beat Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, indicating he had learned lessons from a League Cup red card at Alloa and an SPFL Trust Trophy challenge on a Brechin City player that should have earned him another one.
However, he has yet to start under Valakari.
In fact, he hasn’t seen much action full-stop.
His total game-time since the change of manager remains less than 90 minutes.
It would be a bold call to give Essel his first start in midfield since mid-September in this match.
Change of formation
The midfield diamond has worked well for Valakari over the last few weeks.
It has helped make the best out of a squad of players which lacks pace out wide and enabled the Finn to get three forwards into his team, albeit Nicky Clark is more of a midfielder than striker in this system.
Could this be the right time to tweak it, though?
If he deployed a 4-2-3-1, that would mean Valakari wouldn’t have to replace Sprangler like for like and would open up the possibility of Jason Holt and Matt Smith combining as a partnership in front of the backline.
In-form Makenzie Kirk could play as a lone striker, with Benji Kimpioka operating on the left of the three behind him, Clark in the middle and Graham Carey on the right.
It would also carry an element of surprise now that opposition coaches have had a chance to study Valakari’s 4-1-2-1-2 set-up.
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